By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Wrtiter
Members of Ascension School’s 4-H Sewing Stars Club hope the colorful gowns they sewed will help brighten the days of teenagers being treated for cancer at Norton Children’s Hospital in downtown Louisville.
The group of 10 students made 32 hospital gowns over the past four months. They presented their creations to Norton Children’s Hospital administrators June 29 during an event unveiling a new cancer ward for adolescents and young adults.
Allysan Comstock, who leads the 4-H Club at Ascension School, said the project came their way late last year. Administrators at Norton decided they wanted to do something for the teenage patients and were looking for a 4-H Club willing to sew special gowns for the young patients.
Club members met with administrators at Norton to talk about what they envisioned and planned the project themselves, noted Comstock.
The club — which is all female — took a shopping spree at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts, where they bought supplies.
They bought fabric that depicts a variety of interests common to teens — one gown is covered in baseballs while another offers a swirling pattern of music staffs and treble clefs.
These yards of fabric became hospital gowns during two-hour sewing sessions each week from February through May.
Hannah Spears, an eighth-grader at Ascension and member of the 4-H club, said doing something for children struggling with cancer was fun.
“I know they will be thankful for it and that’s a good feeling to have,” said Spears. It was Spears’ job to sew pockets and iron the gowns, she said. “You’re having fun, but also thinking about the kids while you’re doing it.”
Spears said she hopes the kids who wear the gowns will know they “are loved and that people are thinking of them and praying for them.”
Natalie Grose, an eighth-grader at Ascension who helped sew the gowns, said she was excited to work on the project.
“We always make things for ourselves, so it’s nice to do something for others,” said Natalie, whose job was to sew bias tape on the gowns.
“Everyone is supporting them,” she said of the teenage patients. “With the gowns, we’re sending our love.”
The sewing group usually enters the Kentucky State Fair, said Comstock, but decided to forego it this year, so that they could make the hospital gowns. Natalie said she was glad to make the sacrifice.
“Sometimes it’s good to make sacrifices in your life to help other people,” she said.
Unlike regular hospital gowns, the teens will get to keep these.
